readers

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Mild Brewday

Time for more of that delicious mild I so love.I bumped the mash temperature up from the last version, the goal being to increase mouthfeel and body through more residual dextrins left in the final product. No coffee this time, however. I did undershoot the final volume a bit, which means that the starting gravity is a bit high. I'll just consider it my attempt to give you more bang for your buck. In fact, that might just have to be the new name for this beer. Woot.

Brewed: 6/7/2012 @ 68° F; dropped to 65° FSecondary: 7/26/2012 @ 1.018Bottled: 7/29/2012OG: 1.044FG: 1.018Tasting
Notes (2/4/2012): I’ve been waiting to type up notes on this beer because I’ve
been waiting to see if the off-flavors in the beer were an infection on the
rise or merely something that didn’t mesh in the beer. Since it tastes nearly
the same as it did when first bottled, I’m guessing the latter, but then again,
I’m not certain—there is a faint slight burnt flavor that reminds me of the
harsh clash found in 119. Kevin Lolli SOB—albeit a fair bit worse—along with
some of the oxidized fruit that seems to hint that the problem is the attempt to
marry Wyeast 1469 West Yorkshire with darker grains: here, the MFB Kiln Coffee,
Simpson Roasted Barley, and Crisp Pale Chocolate. It’s like the flavor of
disappointment in an otherwise interesting beer. It pours a rich and clear deep
chocolate with a wispy wafty thin white head—more ring than anything else—and
has stone fruit and rum raisin in the nose along with a touch of oxidized paper
verging on sawdust. Flavors are where the wheels start to come off the wagon:
it opens with chocolate and caramel before the burnt flavor hits the tongue,
accompanied by a fair amount of drying of the palate. After the crest of the
burnt, there are oxidized paper and dark fruits, leading into the astringent
finish with chalk and cardboard. I will point out that the harsh components of
the burnt flavor have been on the wane in the last couple of months—I’ve been
drinking one of these beers every two weeks or so to see where it is at as a
form of penance for making bad beer—and it has moved from shame and failure to
mere disappointment. I am glad to almost be finished with this beer, which I
enjoy in inverse proportions to the first beer I made with this yeast, 118.Rockit Cup Chris Wyatt’s Landlord. That beer was stupendous. This one is not.
Stupid failure.